US Republican presidential
candidate Donald Trump speaks on the last day of the Republican National
Convention on July 21, 2016, in Cleveland, Ohio. (AFP photo)

New York billionaire businessman Donald Trump has formally accepted the Republican Party's nomination for the US president.
“I
humbly and gratefully accept your nomination for the presidency of the
United States,” Trump told the Republican National Convention in
Cleveland, Ohio, on Thursday.
Trump ended the GOP convention
Thursday night by repeating his position on various issues; attacking
the political establishment, playing to voters’ fears of crime and
immigrants, and making bold promises to repair America’s ills.
He also vowed to defeat presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the November US general election.
Trump said the "legacy" of the former secretary of state is "death, destruction, terrorism and weakness."
“Together,
we will lead our party back to the White House, and we will lead our
country back to safety, prosperity and peace,” he said.
Trump’s
speech portrayed the US as a violent country, where disorder and crime
“threaten our very way of life.” He cast himself as someone who could
end the violence immediately, without explaining precisely how.
"I
have a message for all of you: The crime and violence that today
afflicts our nation will soon come to an end. Beginning on January 20th
2017, safety will be restored," he added.
Trump’s speech laid out
stark differences between his agenda and that of Clinton. He described
her as a captive of her financial donors.
“She is their puppet!
And they pull the strings!” Trump said. “That is why Hillary Clinton’s
message is that things will never change. Never ever. My message is that
things have to change, and they have to change right now!”

His normally volatile relationship with religious and evangelical
groups took u-turn today when he thanked the religious community for
their support in his campaign.
Trump also made a strong point of
protecting the LGBTQ community, and following the applause, said "as a
Republican, it is so nice to hear you cheering for what I just said."
The Republican candidate stressed the importance of law and order, even declaring himself the law and order candidate.
"The crime that afflicts our nation will soon come to an end," he said, "safety will be restored."
Trump
was critical of trade deals which he said don't benefit America. He
claims the Iran deal "will go down in history as one of the worst deals
in history."

Trump said he wants to help the American working class join the American middle class.
He is proposing restrictions and penalties on companies moving manufacturing overseas.
"The TPP," he said "will destroy our manufacturing."
"I will not sign any trade agreements that hurt our workers."
Of course, Hillary Clinton was attacked in the speech, concluding the greatest theme of the convention.
When Clinton took over foreign policy, he said, Isis did not exist and Syria was peaceful.
"Syria is now engulfed in a civil war, and a refugee crisis threatens the West," he said.
"The
situation is worse than it's ever been before. This is the legacy of
Hillary Clinton: death destruction, terrorism, and weakness."
On
the email scandal, he said: "[Clinton's] single greatest achievement is
committing such an egregious crime, and getting away with it."
Trump
showed some sympathy for Bernie Sanders, another anti-establishment
candidate, say the rigged system bought him down just as it does the
American people.
Trump ended his very long speech with these
lines: "to all Americans tonight, in all of our cities, and all of our
towns. We will make America strong again, we will make America proud
again, we will make America safe again, and we will make America great
again."

Earlier

2.02pm: Ivanka Trump is taking the podium to introduce her father. Ivanka is the second-eldest of the Trump children.
"Real change will only came from outside the system," says Ivanka.
As
a child, Ivanka says, she saw Trump read about down-and-out people in
the paper, he would invite them to the Trump tower and do his best to
get them a job.
Trump is "color-blind and gender neutral" says
Ivanka. There are more women than men in Trump's workforce, she says,
and they are paid equally to men.
Ivanka says Trump will champion wage equality across America.
"Trump is incapable of thinking small," she says, "he will take on the bold and lofty fights."1.44pm:
More republican jams and dancing. This time, the song has been written
specifically for Trump, with the lines "we're gonna make America great
again."1.25pm: Peter Thiel is on pronouncing he's proud to be a gay republican.
Thiel says he doesn't always agree with party lines, but believes Trump is a friend of the LGBT community.12.57pm: More republican dancing has broken out as the band sings "when the house is a-rocking, don't bother knocking."12.44pm: Lisa Shin, head of Koreans for Trump, is on saying America is a land where immigrants can prosper.
"Hillary
Clinton is a direct threat to the American dream," Shin says, "with
extreme carelessness she has compromised our national security and our
safety."
"She is not qualified to be our next President."12.37pm:
Marry Fallin, the first female Governor of Oklahoma, says America is
losing its sense of unity and hope: "Our spirits are nearly broken."
Trump, says Fallin, stands for the values of unity and opportunity.12.29pm: Tennessee Representative Marsha Blackburn says "the American people have had it. They are ready for change."
"Trump believes in the American dream, because he has lived the American dream," she says.12.22pm: It's time for some more conservative country music.12.19pm: Brock Mealer is delivering a story about a car crash which killed his father and damaged his spinal cord.12.04pm: Pastor Mark Burns is giving an explosive speech and working up the crowd.
"It is so important to come together and defeat Hillary Clinton and those race-baiting democrats," he said.
"All lives matter," he screamed.
He's leading the crowd in chanting "all lives matter."
Burns says Donald Trump will make sure all Americans will have jobs.11.57am: Sheriff Joe Arpaio is on decrying the U.S immigration policies.
"Trump will stand with me and other law enforcers to protect our borders. Donald Trump will build that wall," he said.11.51am:
Jerry Falwell, Jr., President of Liberty University and evangelical
leader, is on stage. He said "history will repeat itself with Donald
Trump," referring to Reagan's years in office.
"Donald Trump is one of the greatest visionaries of our time," he said.
"Donald Trump is America's blue-collar millionaire."
Falwell Jr., says liberal universities are indoctrination camps for democrats.11.27am: Country artist Ayla Brown is singing the National Anthem and doing a great job of it.11.26am: The pledge of allegiance was led by veteran Tony Perkins.11.13am: We're kicking off with some republican jams. The crowd is getting down to the easy listening live music.
The dancing crowd stands out as one of the highlights of the convention.11.05am: Donald Trump says he wants to focus on helping people who have been - in his words - "neglected, ignored and abandoned."
Excerpts
of his speech later Thursday night at the Republican National
Convention are coming out now, and he's singling out the middle class.
He
says that under his leadership, middle-income Americans "will
experience profound relief, and taxes will be greatly simplified for
everyone."
Trump says a combination of tax cuts and fewer
regulations will allow trillions of dollars to flow into the country. He
also says he'll improve the roads, bridges and other public works - and
that'll create more jobs.
On education, he promises to "rescue
kids from failing schools" by giving parents more of a say in where they
send their children.